Rowing Completes Dual at Indiana

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University rowing team tallied four second-place finishes against Indiana today on Lake Lemon in Bloomington, Ind.

"I'm disappointed in our overall results. Indiana is a stronger, faster team, so the disappointment is less in the loss to a faster program and more in our poor execution," says coach Jimmy King. "Inconsistency continues to be an issue for our crews. After rowing and competing well in Friday afternoon's scrimmage against the Hoosiers, the poise and execution displayed Friday was largely lacking on Saturday. The effort was there, but it was misplaced effort."

The two squads raced two flights of the 2000 meter course. In round one of racing, the Hoosiers' top varsity eight boat won the heat with a 6:36.8. The Mountaineers “A” varsity eight crew completed the course in 7:10.2. Indiana's “B” varsity eight finished in 6:55.3, while WVU's “B” crew crossed in 7:19.2.

In varsity fours, the Mountaineers “A” boat trailed the Hoosiers' lone varsity four crew by seven seconds, finishing in 7:50.6. WVU's “B” boat came in at 8:18.5.

"If there's one crew that performed consistently throughout the weekend, it was our 1V4+," says coach Stacey Van Order. "I was pleased with the first varsity four's performances throughout the weekend. After a week of rocky practices, something really clicked with them during our scrimmage on Friday. This led us into Saturday's racing where they were able to execute two solid races against Indiana."

In the second round of varsity eights, Indiana's “A” boat finished in first, recording a time of 6:45.6. The Mountaineers “A” crew finished in 7:22.6, while the “B” boat crossed in 7:20.0. The Hoosiers' “B” crew took second in the flight, completing the course in 7:00.9.

WVU's “A” varsity four crew recorded an 8:05.6 on its second run, while the “B” boat took third in the flight with an 8:28.7. Indiana's varsity four crew won the flight with a 7:50.7.

In the novice varsity eights, the Mountaineers' novice crew finished in 7:32.5, while the third varsity crew came in at 8:02.9 in the first flight. In the second flight, the novice boat recorded a 7:46.2 and the third varsity crew an 8:23.0. The Hoosiers' novice eight won both heats, finishing in 7:13.0 and 7:28.3.

WVU returns to the water next weekend at the Knecht Cup in West Windsor, N.J. The event starts on Saturday, April 12, and concludes on Sunday, April 13.